Fate: noitaminA Chronicles
by Kirino
Summary: Servants: familiars that are copies of legendary heroes from the past, present and future. However, what if the seven Servants that are summoned in the fifth Heaven's Feel are from modern Japanese media? Anime megacrossover.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: None of the characters in this fic are of my property._

_This fic was born when I decided to properly re-do my first Fate/stay night megacrossover fic "Fate/redemption chronicles", which was basically a dead fic because I walled myself into far too many conflicting choices for Servants, power level issues and trying to stick closely to the original combinations of Master and Servant._

x~~*~~x

**Prologue**

The blonde Finn didn't know what hit her; right after she had summoned her Servant, a figure appeared from the darkness, a figure that she didn't notice due to the concentration she had devoted to the summoning ritual.

Feeling weak from the ritual, she was prepared to expend a Command Spell to force her Servant to dispose of the intruder.

She never got it off, as a short rapier pierced her heart, thrown by the intruder. She was far too slow in shielding herself, even if she had a stock of jewels that contained her prana right in her pockets.

"Tch," snorted the assassin as without any remorse, he took a dagger out of his pocket and sliced the blonde's arm containing the Command Spells off, as the Servant watched him warily. For good measure, the assassin pocketed the jewels that tumbled out of the girl's pocket.

The man looked at the Servant. She was barely five feet tall, wearing a nun's habit with chopine as her footwear. She was holding a long silver staff with six prongs at the top that resembled a lotus.

"Are you my master now?" inquired the Servant.

"Yes. Your class?" replied the assassin.

"Lancer."

x~~*~~x

I glanced at the grandfather clock in the spacious living room – the clock read that the current time was fifty-five minutes past one in the morning, Japan Standard Time or Greenwich Mean Time + 9. Five minutes left until two in the morning, where my magic would be strongest, thus facilitating, hopefully, my successful summoning of a Servant.

My entire life had been geared until this moment, ever since my father Tokiomi left ten years ago to participate in the Fourth Heaven's Feel. When he didn't return, I knew that he was gone, and I hardened my heart so that I could carry out the duty of being a Tohsaka; to represent the family in the next Heaven's Feel.

This brings me to my current situation as I head to the basement where I've already set up the ritual circle beforehand; the only thing left to do is to actually invoke the summoning and hopefully not botch the contract. I have confidence in my skills and abilities as a magus, but I'll be fucking lying if I said that I wasn't afraid in the slightest right now.

Even if I did summon a Servant, if the Command Seals did not present themselves accordingly, I could get killed by my own Servant if it was a particularly belligerent hero that did not want to take flak and orders from anyone. Worst. Death. Ever. I would sully the good name of Tohsaka if I lost the Grail War in that manner.

Finagle's Law, more commonly known as Murphy's Law in action: if anything can go wrong, it will. Sighing heavily, I reached the basement and before my feet was the large summoning circle I had done earlier. I glanced at the clock that hung from the basement wall. One fifty-eight. I had two minutes to get this show on the road.

In the midst of the summoning circle was the catalyst I would be using for my summoning. In theory, it would be the most valuable of my jewels, a particularly large ruby pendant that I had been pouring prana in ever since the day my father Tokiomi left. It was my largest store of prana outside of my own body, and in lieu with the Tohsaka style of magecraft would boost the success and possibly the rank of the Servant I would obtain.

There was an unforeseen and unexplainable aberration though. The pendant I hold in my hands is not the ruby I had been putting prana into for the past ten years, but an unidentified red sphere attached to a sturdy chain. Its hue of red was similar to my pendant, but in all respects, they were two entirely different objects. I couldn't explain it either; I found this red sphere inside the mahogany box I always kept my ruby pendant in. No one else knew of its existence, save for perhaps a _certain_ relative who no longer lives here. I frankly cannot explain how my ruby was replaced by this red sphere, but I could practically feel the power and prana _thrum_ through the air when I was near this small object. I sensed that it contained much more prana than my ruby pendant, so I just filed the incident aside as a blessing in disguise.

One minute left.

It's no surprise that the Servant I'm gunning to summon would be Servant Saber, said to be the most powerful amongst Servants. Statistically, Sabers have been the winners of previous Heaven's Feels, barring the unusual ones, such as the previous war which resulted in a roughly two kilometer radius of Fuyuki City being leveled into a blazing inferno. My mentor, Kotomine Kirei, the priest at the church on the hill, was one of the last Masters in the previous war and was right there when it happened.

It is time.

Taking a book from the table on the side, I stepped into the middle of the circle and held the red sphere in my left hand.

"I command thee," I intone. "Thou shalt come forth to my side. Thy sword shalt control my fate. Abiding by the Holy Grail's haven, if thou accedest to this will and reason, then answer me. The oath set forth here; I am the embodiment of good in the eternal world. I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world. Thee, the seven heavens that bear the great trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint."

Using my magic, I create a small cut in my fingers and let the blood drip onto the summoning circle, patching up my own wound with a simple healing spell once the blood has fallen. The summoning circle suddenly glows a fiery red, and I felt the insane amount of prana flowing through my body. I steeled myself, knowing that this was part of the ritual.

"O, guardian of the balance!" I cried.

I exhaled loudly and suddenly, I heard a loud explosion come from somewhere above me. I immediately knew that I had botched the summoning; my Servant was not in front of me and chances are s/he would be somewhere near the explosion that happened upstairs.

God, I wish my Servant was an amiable one or else I might be toast…

x~~*~~x

I opened the door to the living room and the sight that befell my eyes was one of chaos and destruction. The entire roof had caved in, thus allowing the moonlight to pour into the living room unfettered. Three-quarters of the room had been destroyed and I could hear someone coughing amidst the dust that got thrown up due to the mishap in my summoning. I can't understand why I blew the summoning; I did do it at the time when my magic was the strong—

My blood ran cold and I facepalmed; I had forgotten oh so inconveniently that I had moved the clocks back by an hour in the household, similar to the concept of Daylight Savings Time that Americans utilize. I did this to allow myself an hour of allowance for punctuality issues, not to mention that I am not a morning person at all.

I sighed loudly and then called out towards the rubble.

"Servant! Are you there?"

A figure emerged from the dust and my eyes narrowed to take in the person's features. A tall brunette stood there, her hair arranged in a single ponytail off to the side of her head. She appeared to be wearing a flight attendant's uniform, and her sapphire eyes looked at me in curiosity and inquisitiveness. She looked to be no older than twenty.

"Um, excuse me, but am I correct in assuming that you are my master?" asked the woman tentatively.

I nodded crisply. "Are you, as my Servant, prepared to be my sword and shield, to swear absolute fealty to me, your Master throughout the duration of the Holy Grail War, in the hope that we may emerge victorious?"

The brunette nodded and replied, "Yes, Master," before she started to giggle unexpectedly.

I raised my eyebrow in inquiry and the brunette sobered up. "I'm sorry; it's just that I'm used to being told that, not saying it."

"In any case," I continued, plowing forward with the speed of the Tunguska fireball that decimated a large portion of Siberia, "What class are you?"

"Archer," answered the brunette, looking around her for a place where she could sit. Of course, there was nowhere to sit but the floor because she had busted up her entire living room.

I sighed; I had failed in obtaining the Servant class I wanted. The brunette had her eyes trained on me as she sat down when she heard my sigh.

"Are you dissatisfied, my Master?" she asked. "Please do not feel that way; though my mission escapes me at the moment, I will do all I can to help you win, uh— what's your name?"

"Rin," I replied in surprise. Servants rarely asked for the names of their Masters; most of them preferred impersonal relationships so that their emotions would not be clouded when they had to act logically under the most dire of circumstances. Clearly, Archer did not subscribe to such nuances.

"Then… may I call you Rin-chan?" asked Archer tentatively, her sapphire eyes boring intently into me.

I must have opened my mouth in shock because she then said, "Nu-uh, I think good girls should be more refined than that, Rin-chan."

"Don't call me that!" I grumbled.

Archer looked at me with the infamous puppy dog eyes and said, "B-but I address _all_ of my female friends with the –chan honorific. Please?"

"We are not friends," I brusquely replied. "We are Master and Servant; nothing more, nothing less."

"I'd like to change that, Rin-chan. Wouldn't it hurt for me to know the person I'll be fighting alongside with?" asked Archer.

"It wouldn't hurt," I began. "All right, I'll make a compromise. Call me Rin. Just Rin is fine."

"Rin," said Archer, clearly tasting the word on her lips. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I ruined your living room. You look tired; might I suggest you turn in to get some rest while I tidy up here?"

"Alright, Archer, I shall do that then," I said. "I expect that we have more to discuss in the morning when I wake up; we should begin strategizing as soon as possible, along with patrols."

"Good night, Rin," she said as I left the living room for my bedroom. I heard her talking to what appeared to be herself, but I was surprised to hear a monotonously digital voice reply to her _in English_.

"Translation magic bestowed by the Grail aside, I'm fairly certain that I just heard modern English," I muttered as I set the alarm on my bedside table to seven in the morning, thus effectively waking me at six in the morning.

x~~*~~x

When the clock struck seven in the morning, I groggily rose out of bed and immediately proceeded to the bathroom to take a morning shower to dispel sleepiness I still felt. I am not a morning person, and I won't allow Archer to see this somewhat embarrassing facet of my personality if it could be helped.

After my morning ablutions, I dressed up and went to the living room to inspect Archer's handiwork. To my pleasure, the living room was as good as new, and on the oak table was a tray with a couple of teacups and a teapot. I poured myself some tea and noted that Archer was dozing off in the couch.

"My Servant is quite unusual, isn't she," I muttered to myself. "Archer! Wake up!"

Immediately, the brunette sat up and blearily rubbed her eyes of sleep. "G-Good morning Rin-chan," she managed through a yawn.

"Don't call me that!" I reminded her brusquely.

"Okay, Rin," she replied. "In any case, what are our plans for the day? Do you have school today?"

I was puzzled at my Servant's interest in whether or not I had school on this day. To others, it would've been a trivial matter, something they didn't give one whit about. If I had to drop out of school to win, I would gladly do so.

"Today's a Sunday, so no. I plan to patrol the entire city today with you, so that you'll be able to familiarize yourself with the terrain, especially the tall buildings which are advantageous for an Archer class Servant such as yourself," I replied. "But first, I have to get some things in order. Please shift into spirit form for me."

The brunette fidgeted and replied uncertainly, "Uh, is that like illusory magic or something, so that I won't be seen?"

I sighed; how could my Servant not know how to shift into spirit form? "I don't know how you Servants do it, but you're all supposed to be able to disappear physically from the world and remain as a spirit that I can still communicate with and detect as your Master."

The brunette's face brightened. "Oh, you mean like this?"

She took three steps toward me, standing no more than a meter away when she disappeared before my eyes.

"_Can you hear me, Rin?_" came the telepathic voice of Archer.

"_Loud and clear, Archer,_" I replied likewise as she came back into existence.

"Telepathic magic, huh. This makes things so much easier; it reminds me of home," said Archer wistfully.

My eyebrows shot up as far as they could. _She could use telepathic magic in her past life._

"You were a magus in your past life? Who are you?" I asked, genuinely curious about the whereabouts of my Servant. Not just in the sense of strategizing for the war, but I felt myself… _feel_ for her, as though she was someone like me.

Tohsaka Rin is not a true magus. I wouldn't kill anyone if I could help it. Not even Sakura's stupid brother Shinji, no matter how much of a groveling worm he truly is.

When Archer told me her name, my face drew a blank. "I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea who you are."

Archer merely smiled back and replied, "It doesn't matter to me Rin; I will be your ally and friend and help you win no matter what. I have a few requests first and foremost, regarding the extent of what I am willing to do."

"Go on," I told her when she waited for my reaction.

"For starters, I know that to defeat other Servants, I have to kill either them or their Masters. I would very much prefer to kill the Servants over the Masters, unless I see fit to kill the Master. I will defer to your judgment regarding the Masters, Rin."

"What would be your criterion in regard to killing Masters?" I inquired, curious as to the alignment of my Servant. My gut was telling me that she was Neutral Good like myself.

"I would only want to kill the Master if any and all attempts to redeem them will fail. I have a… way with crying children from my past life," said Archer with a slight chuckle. "Of course, the final word lies with you Rin, but I am sincerely hoping that you're a good girl and won't just resort to wanton violence."

I smiled at Archer's statement. _The two of us are quite alike. Perhaps this is what Kirei told me about summoning a Servant closest to your personality and principles._

"I have no problem with your terms, Archer. I look forward to working with you," I said with a genuine smile on my face.

"The same to you, Rin," said Archer as she extended her left hand to me.

I shook her hand and commanded Archer to fade to spirit form. "Let's take a slow stroll around the city, so that you can easily get acclimatized to the layout of the city."

x~~*~~x

"And this is the tallest building in the city of Fuyuki," I said to Archer as she stood by my side.

"I have a question, Rin," came Archer's voice. "Why do you refer to the city as Fuyuki, Shinto and Miyama?"

"The city of Fuyuki is divided into both Shinto and Miyama. Shinto, where we are right now, is the urbanized area of Fuyuki, and Miyama is the rural and residential area. The Tohsaka mansion is in Miyama and both cities are separated by a large red bridge. There it is," I pointed to the red bridge that shone in the distance.

"Alright Archer, I want you to take me to the bridge from here. Can you do it?" I asked, having ascended the building and traveled across the city on foot at normal human speeds for the entire day.

"Rin, flying was one of the first things I learned when I first became a mage," said Archer with a light chuckle as she gently wrapped her right arm around my waist and took off into the night sky.

Pink fins suddenly sprouted from her feet and I immediately thought that we looked extremely conspicuous against the gentle night sky. "Archer, can't you do anything about the fins on your feet? Any Servant with good eyesight can spot us from at least two miles away."

"I can disillusion the fins with some magic," said Archer as she pointed her left hand at her feet. Her hand began to glow pink and suddenly, the fins disappeared from my view, though we were still flying at nearly eighty kilometers per hour towards the bridge.

"Say Archer, is that the fastest you can go?" I inquired as we arrived at the bridge a few seconds later.

"Not really; I've flown at the speed of sound before," replied Archer cheerfully, following me as I began walking towards the park in the middle of Fuyuki City. "I didn't want to try breaking the sound barrier though; I'd expect the effect on my eardrums to be unpleasant, magic or no magic."

Archer chuckled as she fell into step beside me, the two of us walking in silence as she observed the surroundings, hopefully committing every detail to her memory.

In what seemed like no time at all, we arrived at Fuyuki Central Park. It was a large meadow amidst trees, with streetlights and benches lining the roads meandering through the forest.

"Why are we here, Rin?" inquired Archer.

"I just wanted to show you where the previous War ended. My mentor was one of the participants and he was at the scene of the horrible tragedy."

I shuddered as Archer spoke. "Tragedy? What happened?"

"Ten years ago, this entire meadow used to be a residential district. At the climax of the Fourth Heaven's Feel, a huge conflagration took place here, incinerating 95% of all the people who lived here. A few children survived and were taken to the hospital, then put up for adoption," I whispered, feeling sadness for the hundreds of people who perished in the conflagration.

Kirei spared me the details of what happened that night, and neither was I curious enough to press the matter.

"Let's go home, Archer," I said when suddenly, Archer cried out.

"Rin-chan!"

I spun on my heel, hands in my pocket ready to throw one of my precious jewels at the assailant when suddenly, a pink barrier appeared in front of me, blocking the projectile that would have surely taken my life had it passed unimpeded.

At the opposite end of the clearing, two figures appeared. They were roughly the same height. One was a little girl with long white hair and piercing ruby eyes, wearing a purple winter coat. The other was another girl with long white hair, though her eyes were a gentle hazel. Her mouth was set in such a way that she displayed next to no emotion, and I was indeed, unable to discern her demeanor from simple observation. She was wearing a white blazer with a light-blue skirt, and my eyes traveled to her arms.

Her hands.

At the ends of her hands, twin blades of crystal were there, and without warning, she swung her right arm in a fierce cross, causing a crystal blade to rocket towards me at speeds approaching the speed of sound. The pink barrier appeared in front of me and Archer again, and this time, I was able to observe that the pink shield had foreign looking runes on its outer edge. I gazed to my right and surely enough, Archer's left hand was extended, the shield emanating from her hand and protecting us both.

"Good evening, Tohsaka Rin," said the girl wearing the winter coat. "My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern; I'm sure you've heard of my family. You may call me Ilya."

"An Einzbern, huh. I know a lot about you people," I said neutrally. "Archer, you may release your shield."

"As you should, Rin," replied Ilya. "Us Einzberns used to be allies with your family, after all. Of course, things have changed since then."

"Rin, what should I do?" whispered Archer who was standing beside me, ready to move at my command.

"React accordingly," came my reply. "So Ilya, I assume that the girl beside you is your Servant? The two of you look quite alike."

"Correct, Rin," said Ilya with a slight giggle. "This is Assassin. Apparently, there's a bug with the Grail for this war and I was able to summon a false assassin. This girl here is clearly not a descendant of the original Hassan-i-Sabbah. Of course, I had to find for myself if she was a formidable Servant and I was pleased with what I saw."

As if in reply, Assassin nodded slightly at Ilya and faced us once more, the twin blades of crystal still present.

"Assassin, slice them up," said Ilya with a sweet smile on her face as she issued the command.

Without warning, Assassin dashed in and threw a volley of crystal daggers at Archer and I, and Archer once again created the pink shield that protected us both.

"_Rin! I need to equip myself for this battle. This shield should hold, and the moment I'm ready, I want you to get away as far as you can from Ilya and Assassin, alright?_" came Archer's voice through my mind.

I nodded and without warning, a blinding pink light shone in the midst of a clearing, bright enough for Assassin to back off in surprise. When the brightness abated, I saw the red sphere I had used to summon Archer enlarge and suddenly form a staff in her left hand that was colored pink, yellow and white, with the sphere being the core of the staff.

"The catalyst I used is part of her equipment?" I uttered in disbelief. "Just how much prana does that thing have anyway?"

The next thing that happened completely blew me away in surprise.

"**Set up,**" intoned the staff, the digital voice obviously issuing from the red sphere. "**Protection.**"

The shield suddenly hummed and it was no longer flat like the previous shield; this time, it was a rippling shield of pink and to my immense surprise, the crystal daggers that flew at us rebounded off the shield and locked onto Assassin, who tried to dodge them and did so successfully.

In the intensity of the flying projectiles, I forgot about Archer and spared her a glance. To my surprise, she was now wearing a blue-and-white dress, with large cuffs on her arms. Her hair was now tied in pigtails like my own and without warning pink balls of magical energy formed around her as she began to float a few meters above the ground.

"_Rin, I changed my mind. It's better if you're near me so I can easily reach you in case you're in danger. I trust that you've trained yourself for this and can hold a minor assault off, alright?_"

"_Of course Archer, I've trained my entire life for this very war,_" I replied through our telepathic link.

I could've sworn that I saw a sad smile on Archer's face when she suddenly shot the pink orbs at a volley of crystal daggers that headed my way. I took a jewel in my hands, about to utter the incantation for a shielding spell when Archer's orbs collided with every single dagger, destroying them in the process.

She began to fly circles around Assassin, who was still on the ground, seemingly analyzing her situation while Ilya was beside her, confident in her Servant's abilities.

"_Rin, what do I do about the Master, Ilya? Should I k-kill her?_"

I thought I heard Archer's voice crack through our link when I replied, "_That won't be necessary yet; I'd like to evaluate your skills against Assassin first and foremost. I like what I see so far; seems like there's no need for me to provide cover fire._"

Without replying, Archer formed more pink orbs around her while Assassin continued to throw volleys of crystal daggers at Archer who dodged them through the use of acrobatic flight moves.

"**Axel Shooter,**" intoned the staff, as around thirty orbs formed around Archer that immediately strategically circled Ilya and Assassin in ways that cut off nearly every possible escape route. The pink orbs homed in towards their targets at lightning fast speeds, rending them apart with the magical energy invested in them.

Only thing was, it didn't happen because Assassin muttered in a low voice.

"**Guard Skill: Distortion.**"

Suddenly, all the pink orbs that Archer and her staff controlled wildly veered off their intended paths and exploded at random intervals along the grass field.

"_She can disrupt my shots, Rin. I can take control of them again, but that will leave you exposed since I have to expend more effort to regain their control,_" came Archer's voice.

I nodded in distraction, seeing how effortlessly Assassin redirected Archer's magic orbs.

"How boring," said Ilya. "Is that the best your puny Archer can do? Assassin, show them what else you've got!"

Assassin nodded and suddenly, the twin blades on her arms glowed in light.

"**Guard Skill: Hand Sonic, version three.**"

The blades on her hands suddenly morphed into a pair of _sai, _and she swung her arms at us rapidly, shooting crystal _sai_ at us. Archer formed more pink orbs as she began to counterattack.

"**Round Shield,**" intoned the staff as the familiar pink barrier rose between Assassin and Archer encompassing myself, when suddenly, the projectiles all split in half, the other half of the _sai_ going around the shield that Archer created.

"**Axel Shooter,**" intoned the staff once again as the pink orbs shot down all the projectiles that the shield did not manage to stop.

"This is really boring me, Rin," said Ilya. "Our Servants are a far too even match. Come Assassin, let's go home."

Archer then descended and landed beside me on the grass when suddenly, Ilya looked to the west with a look of fear on her eyes.

"Onii-chan… Should I…?"

I noted that this was the first time tonight I had seen fear on Ilya's eyes. I didn't understand what that was supposed to mean, but suddenly, Archer spoke.

"Rin, the Wide Area Search I cast while we were flying earlier towards the bridge has detected a large magical disturbance roughly eight kilometers to the west. Perhaps that is something we should check out?"

"Eight kilometers to the west…," I mused, as Ilya hopped into Assassin's arms as the latter began to dash towards the west at inhuman speeds.

My blood ran cold. _Eight kilometers to the west… oh no no no no __**no**_**. **_It can't be… _his _house?_

"Archer!" I screamed. "Let's get there as fast as we can; this might be really really important!"

"Yes Rin," replied Archer instantly as she gently wrapped her right arm around my waist as we took off into the night sky headed for Miyama City.

_Please, please, don't let it be his house…_

x~~*~~x

_I hope the prologue was somewhat true to the prologue in the visual novel in terms of writing._

_I think both the identities of Archer and Assassin are very very obvious, since they used key attacks in this chapter. As for Lancer, either you know her, or you don't as of this prologue._

_Please read and review!_


	2. I

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are of my property._

_Sorry it took so long – real life got in the way, see._

_Sentences in italics are thoughts or telepathic conversations with Servants. Points of view may change between divisions as indicated by my linebreaks, so I hope you can tell whose point of view it is._

x~~*~~x

**I**

"So, are you my Master?"

From my position on the shed's floor, I looked up towards the source of the voice. Here was the person whose sudden appearance had singlehandedly driven the nun who attacked me away. She was a young girl, no older than fourteen years of age. Her short turquoise hair was kept in place by a pair of yellow hairclips, and she was wearing a tight fitting top that accentuated her developing breasts. Her top was short enough so that her navel would be exposed, and unbidden, my eyes raked downwards and stopped at where her navel should be.

In its place was a turquoise jewel shaped like a moon. Around her top, she wore a white cape that was fastened to her neck, holding a saber in her right hand. Her turquoise eyes bored into me with a look that radiated determination.

"Huh?" I managed after a while, feeling the pain in my abdomen and back dissipate little by little. "What—"

Without warning, she turned around and crouched, enveloping herself in her cape. Standing up quickly, her cape unraveled to reveal a wall of swords that now separated me from her. Without warning, three of the swords to my front-and-right shattered as though super-packed dense air had struck them.

"Too flimsy," muttered the girl. "Master, since you're hurt, I suggest you stand back while I deal with Lancer in the meantime."

The girl abruptly dashed out of the shed to meet her opponent, who was a blur of navy-blue robes as she darted across the yard of Emiya manor.

If you're wondering how I got here, it all started this morning...

x~~*~~x

"You should seriously let me do the cooking more, Sakura," I said nonchalantly. "It's telling that I'm the master of this household and yet you're doing a lot of things for me."

The name's Emiya Shirou, adopted son of Emiya Kiritsugu. Ten years ago, I was a victim in the large conflagration that decimated an entire residential district in the heart of Fuyuki. Kiritsugu adopted me and cared for me as his own son.

The girl to my left at the table chuckled. Matou Sakura was my friend Shinji's little sister. She began to come over here a few years ago to help me out since I was living alone. My father died a few years before that, and as a result, I was entrusted to the care of the other person at this table, Fujimura Taiga, whom I call "Fuji-nee".

Back when she first started to come over, Sakura was terrible at cooking. I unofficially took her under my wing and slowly but surely, she began to learn the ways of the kitchen. Nowadays, despite my protests, Sakura comes over to cook both breakfast and dinner for me, saying that it was "the least I could do for you."

Sakura had an unnatural hair and eye color of purple. I've also noticed more and more lately that her chest is, uh...

"Shirou! Why are you getting all red and stuff? Have you finally noticed Sakura-chan's... _assets?_" barked Fuji-nee from across the table.

"Fujimura-sensei!" exclaimed a mortified Sakura, blushing hard. I couldn't help but blush either – Sakura seemed to be getting prettier and prettier as the day passes. Naturally, as a man of honor and an aspiring super hero, I would exercise utmost restraint in my interactions with her.

"Seconds, Sakura-chan!" said Fuji-nee, holding her bowl out to Sakura, who refilled it with rice, smiling all the while.

One important thing must be said about Taiga: Don't _ever_ call her "Tiger" if you value your life. Just... don't. The reason for that is that her normal clothing is striped, with the color scheme similar to the coat of a tiger. Fuji-nee is also a 5th dan kendo practitioner, though she's banned from quite a few tournaments due to certain... complications involving her conduct. That being said, she named her shinai "Tora Shinai," which just further reinforces the image of Fujimura "Tiger" Taiga.

"By the way you two," said Fuji-nee. "Try not to stay out too late. Have you been hearing reports of people being found dead with gaping holes in their chest? Clinically speaking, they were pierced by a shafted object."

I shuddered when I recalled the news reports I had seen for the past week. It was as if a mad serial killer was on the loose. Sakura had turned pale at what Fuji-nee was talking about – does she not get television over at her house...?

"It's alright Sakura, let's do our best to stay safe, alright?" I reassured her. Sakura nodded, forcing a smile.

A few short minutes later, breakfast was over and Sakura and I began to clean up. Fuji-nee already left for school, since she had a few things to take care of before class started. We had to hurry up as well, because Sakura had archery practice before class this morning.

Sakura and I were finally walking to Homurabara Academy when I suddenly felt a stinging feeling on my left hand. "Senpai!" cried Sakura right as I lifted my left hand.

Blood was dripping from the back of my palm. "Senpai, we should have that checked at the school infirmary," said Sakura worriedly, motioning for me to pick up the pace.

I could only feel a dull stinging though, nothing that I couldn't handle. "Don't worry about it Sakura – I'll bandage it up later when we get to school."

Sakura continued to protest but I soon silenced her with reassurances that I would treat the injury as though it were life-threatening. In due course, we reached Homurabara Academy, and we were immediately greeted by a brown-haired girl who clapped me on the back.

"Good morning, Emiya, Matou," said Mitsuzuri Ayako. "Matou, go ahead to the hall – I have a few words with Emiya here."

"See you later, senpai. Please take care of your wound," said Sakura, bowing.

The girl left and I was left with Ayako. I was sure of what she wanted to talk to me about.

"So Emiya, why don't you come back to the Archery club?" said Ayako in a businesslike tone. "No tryouts like everyone else. You tell me you want back in, you're in. Just like that."

I sighed audibly – the conversation had gone exactly as I had expected. I was a former member of the Archery Club until I left because of a falling out with Sakura's brother. Ever since that time, Ayako here had been trying to recruit me again, telling me that she'll discipline Shinji even more when he toes the line.

"Why don't you just come to morning practice, you know, shoot for a bit and get the feel of it again. Your old locker is still there for you, Emiya. What do you say?" prompted Ayako.

"Alright, fine, I'll shoot for a bit but that's not a guarantee that I'm going to rejoin your club," I said grudgingly.

Ayako smirked and led me to the archery hall, where a surprised Sakura noticed me entering right as she finished changing into her _hakama_.

"Senpai, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura worriedly, her gaze drifting to my left wrist.

"Indulging your captain," I said dryly, walking towards my old locker to change into my _hakama_.

When I had finished changing, I found Sakura speaking to Ayako.

"...has a wound on his left wrist, I think he should really have it checked at the infirmary," finished Sakura.

Ayako looked over to me and raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Emiya, can you shoot with that hand of yours?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," I replied. "I can shoot with this, no problem."

As if to demonstrate, I picked up Sakura's bow from the bleachers, taking an arrow from her stock as well. I walked up to the spot where I would fire and nocked the arrow. Then, I closed my eyes.

After all the basic rules of archery, there is one very important concept that one must understand to become the perfect archer. The archer should cease being conscious of themselves as the entity engaged in hitting the target. This state of unconsciousness will only be realized when the archer is completely empty and rid of the self, and thus they become one with the attainment of the goal, which is, in this case, to hit the target.

One does not shoot at the target. One wills the self to acknowledge the success of hitting the target. The loss of self results in the self becoming the bow, and as long as one imagines hitting the target, it will be hit every single time.

I did exactly that, and I heard Ayako let out a low whistle behind me. When I opened my eyes, there it was – the arrow hit the bull's eye dead center. "You've not lost your touch just yet, Emiya," said Ayako jovially, clapping me on the back.

"I didn't promise anything," I said in defiance. "Besides, I have a part-time job to tend to, and I have to help Issei out."

"Oh please, Emiya, Ryuudou can handle his own business," said Ayako as I changed out of my _hakama_.

"Nevertheless, as his friend, I feel obligated to help him out," I replied.

"Man, Emiya, you're too selfless. You should consider what you want as well," retorted Ayako while Sakura just watched us with clear apprehension on her face.

I sighed audibly. "Ayako, you must understand that I do these things because I want to do them."

Ayako sniffed. "Fine, but I'll try harder next time, Emiya. Matou—", she turned to Sakura. "Shoot ten and you're done for the morning. Don't want to be late to Kuzuki-sensei's class, now, would you?"

Sakura nodded. "Well, I guess I'll be going now. See you both later," I said as I turned my back and headed to homeroom with Fuji-nee.

"Bye-bye, senpai," said Sakura as she nocked an arrow to her bow.

x~~*~~x

I arrived at the classroom at the exact same time Fuji-nee did. Class proceeded without incident, with the exception of another student calling Fuji-nee by the nickname she hates. Homeroom ended and Kuzuki-sensei entered for History class.

x~~*~~x

Lunch period came and just like I did every day, I headed over to the Student Council Room for lunch with my friend Ryuudou Issei. To be honest, I felt sorry for Issei, because he was the only member of the Student Council of Homurabara. He kept trying to draft me as his vice-president, but I rebuffed him with a few of the reasons I gave Ayako. As a token of friendship though, I made it a point to eat lunch with him and to assist him in repairing things.

As if on cue, Issei took out a small air-conditioning unit from a closet. "Say Emiya, can you fix this?"

"I think I can Issei, but I'll have to ask you to leave for a short while. You know how I can't concentrate if anyone else is in the room with me, right?"

"Make it quick, Emiya. I don't want to risk bumping into Tohsaka today," said Issei, who visibly _shuddered_.

Tohsaka Rin. The school idol. Consistent honor-student and current valedictorian. I will admit to myself that I have a small crush on her, but it would go no further than that. I've only interacted with her a few times, personally, and those all happened in Sakura's presence.

Sakura... Those two girls seem to have a wall between them. Tohsaka speaks kindly to Sakura but Sakura always appears to be flustered and nervous when she's around Tohsaka. Whenever I tried to bring the subject up, Sakura always seemed evasive, and thus I made the decision to no longer pry into that topic. It wasn't my business after all, but I privately thought that Tohsaka wasn't the type of person that could possibly offend Sakura. Sakura is able to tolerate _Shinji_, after all.

When Issei left the room, I took my toolbox out of the closet that Issei lent to me to keep my tools in and I knelt down beside the air-conditioning unit.

I whisper "Trace, on," right as I touch the appliance.

By the way, I may have forgotten to tell you that I'm a mage. Dad was also a mage, and he trained me just a bit, nothing formal. He taught me strengthening magecraft, because it seemed pretty practical. Essentially, what I do is analyze the structure of the object and infuse it with prana to strengthen it.

...in theory at least. I rarely succeed at strengthening things – I tend to break objects that I try to strengthen because I end up pouring too much prana into them. Worst of all, I have to reconstruct my magic circuit every single time I try, and if I screw that up, I could die.

So in the end, my "strengthening" magecraft has been reduced to object analysis, and as a result, I can obtain all possible information about the structural composition of the object. And so I discover the problem with the air-conditioner and quickly take it apart, repair it, and put it back together.

Satisfied with my handiwork, I stand up and open the door to find Issei standing straight and tall over by the windowsill, looking at me with a look that I can't quite discern.

"All done, Issei. Anything wrong?" I asked.

Issei frowned. "Kuzuki-sensei passed by earlier and I spoke to him. Apparently, Tohsaka hasn't been seen all day."

'_Tohsaka Rin, skipping school? Is this for real?' _I thought. "So she skipped school. Did you consider that she might be sick?"

Issei audibly gasped. "You're defending her? No, no... Not you too Emiya!" he exclaimed. "I won't allow you to fall for the wiles of that woman. Stay away from her Emiya, I mean it!"

I sweatdropped at Issei's exclamation and without warning, the bell signaling the end of lunchtime rang. Shrugging, I went back to the room and retrieved my _bento_.

x~~*~~x

Night had fallen and it finds me walking home from my part-time job in Shinto to Miyama. It was a long day and I felt really really tired. Throughout work my left hand kept itching more and more and more. Cursing, I trudged across the bridge linking Shinto to Miyama, thinking about how I'd have to soak this in warm water to at least give my hand the illusion of comfort.

I made my way to the end of the bridge near Miyama when suddenly, a girl stood in my path. She was wearing a purple winter coat, her eyes were ruby-colored and her hair was as white as the snow.

"Good evening," said the girl, curtsying. "You should summon it soon, or else you're going to die, _onii-chan_."

'_Huh. What is that all about?'_

The girl then stalked past me and left me stymied. What did she mean? I gazed at her and for some reason, I felt the urge to run as far as I could from the girl. It was as if... following her would sign my death sentence.

I ignored that feeling. I turned to the girl.

"E-Excuse me? I don't quite understand what you're talking about, uh... right, before that, what's your name, _ojou-chan?_ My name is Emiya Shirou," I said, bowing.

When I looked up, the girl had a look of surprise on her face, as though she was expecting me to be rude to her, or to scurry away like a fearful animal. Unfazed, I stepped closer to her and knelt down so that our heads were at the same level. "A little girl like you shouldn't be out on the streets what with all the murders happening lately. What's your name?"

"Illyasviel von Einzbern. You may call me Ilya, _onii-chan_," said the girl as the look of surprise on her face changed to one of curiosity. "W-Why are you being so nice to me?"

"It's my duty," I said simply. "That aside... You really do look like a foreign _ojou-sama!_ Your coat looks more expensive than anything I own and your long hair looks soft and silky."

To my surprise, I saw Ilya's cheeks flush a faint red. Evidently, she felt embarrassed by being complimented by a stranger who was at least four years her senior.

"Anyway, like I said," I continued. "It's really not safe for a cute girl like you to be out at this time of night. Who will pick you up? Do you want me to take you to your home?"

For some reason I couldn't discern, she looked positively disturbed by my goodwill. Perhaps she was just uncomfortable that a stranger such as myself was being so nice to her. "I think that you should leave me alone," said Ilya quietly.

"Oh, right, heh," I chuckled. "I didn't think that you'd see me as a dangerous person. Well, I'll be honest with you, Ilya, I'm completely harmless."

To accentuate my intentions, I raised my hands above my head in a "you're under arrest" pose, showing her that I was completely unarmed. "So, the offer still stands. I can take you home, or to where your guardian will pick you up."

Ilya wrinkled her nose and I couldn't help but smile at how cute she was being at the moment. Don't misunderstand me though – I'm not into _that_ kind of thing.

"Well?" I prompted, extending my right hand to her.

Her cheeks tinged with red, she took my proffered hand in her own and said, "Okay, I'll take you up on your offer. Can you take me to Fuyuki Central Park?"

'_Just my rotten luck – it's at the opposite end of the city!'_

But in the long run, it doesn't matter because I know that I truly did a good deed tonight. Hand in hand, I walked with her back the way I came, towards Fuyuki Central Park, putting the very first thing she had told me out of my mind.

x~~*~~x

'_This was completely out of the plan. I'm supposed to take revenge on _onii-chan_ for Kiritsugu leaving me and Mother,' _thought the Einzbern homunculus as she walked hand in hand with Shirou towards Fuyuki Central Park.

The plan was simple – turn Shirou in a plaything as revenge. However, Shirou being nice to Ilya had definitely put a spanner in the works. _'Maybe he's not like Kiritsugu at all... maybe. Assassin, can you feel any malicious intent coming from this person?'_

'_None,' _replied Assassin through her telepathic link with Ilya in a soft tone.

When Assassin was summoned by Ilya, she had some doubts about the sturdiness and integrity of her Servant. For one thing, she obviously wasn't a descendant of the original Hassan-i-Sabbah. However, Sella and Leysritt had told her that the large feather sent by her family was what she would use as a catalyst in summoning her Servant.

Well, it's not like Ilya expected to summon, say, Herakles, right? In any case, she was satisfied by the capabilities of her Servant, especially at her ability to disrupt ranged attacks lower than rank B.

'_You know Assassin, I'll be honest with you – it's been a few weeks since I summoned you, since you showed me your powers in the forest and you even told me your name. Yet, I don't know who you are. I'm well versed in mythological lore but for the life of me, I have no idea who you are._'

'_That is not an issue, Master. It may prove to be helpful if you don't know who I am, because that means no one else will discover who I am,' _replied Assassin.

'_You make a good point, Assassin. After tonight, I suggest we take a break tomorrow from patrolling to further train in the forest. I need to be able to sustain at least five duplicates, yourself included.'_

'_If I may offer input, Master, I think that the highest number of copies you should utilize from Harmonics should be limited to two additional copies. The more I duplicate myself, the copies become exponentially weaker. I profess that this was not the case in my past life – perhaps the prana does not take to Harmonics that well?' _ postulated Assassin.

'_We should continue to test and train some more tomorrow._'

At present, Ilya could only sustain one copy before the copy lost a proper prana supply and disappeared. Assassin's Harmonics enables her to create copies of herself, but at the cost of power for each copy, not to mention that Ilya's many magic circuits were confused as to _whom_ they were sending prana to.

"Hey Ilya, we're already here," said Shirou, who had noticed Ilya being quiet and decided to not break the silence during their long walk. "There's a payphone over by the entrance. Here, I'll give you these coins, then you can call your guardian to pick you up, alright?"

Ilya took the proffered coins and replied, "Thank you."

The Einzbern Master blushed a little and Shirou chuckled, earning a reproachful look from the girl.

"Good night, and keep safe," said Shirou, turning his back on Ilya, waving. "Good night, Shirou."

"You might see a lot more of me from now on, _onii-chan_," said Ilya when Shirou was out of earshot.

Things certainly got more complicated for the Einzbern Master, that's for sure.

x~~*~~x

"Lancer," said Kotomine Kirei, priest of the church at the top of the hill. "I have a mission for you tonight."

The nun shimmered into existence, holding her silver staff at her side. "What would you have me do, priest?"

"Kill the human named Emiya Shirou, and report to me once you have finished. You may take your time in killing him, as long as you accomplish the task," said Kirei, who walked over to the tabernacle behind the altar where he had hidden Luviagelita Edelfelt's severed arm.

"Yes, Master," said the nun who stooped down to remove her chopine. She closed her eyes, and in place of the chopine, steel boots appeared on her feet.

Without warning, she disappeared from the view of the naked eye and rushed out of the church, causing the wind to blow through the open windows.

"Hey, Kotomine," came a drawl from the pew at the furthest corner from the altar. "Why do you let that mongrel address you as though you were equals?"

Kirei chuckled and replied. "My friend, in a way, the two of us are equals. I am a priest, she is a nun. Both of us serve the Catholic Church. Quite simple, really."

The man at the rear brushed some dust off of his jacket and replied, "You church types sure know how to stick together."

Kirei smirked, recalling the buffoon who was practically married to curry from the Burial Agency meetings he attended. "You'd be surprised at how wrong that statement is, Gilgamesh."

x~~*~~x

I forgot to account for one thing when I made my offer to escort Ilya to the park: Sakura. With that in mind, I rushed to the house as quick as I could. I noted that it was already nine in the evening when I passed by a convenience store on the way back and I steepened the pace, concerned for Sakura who would be presumably all alone in the house.

After fifteen minutes from the bridge, I was dead tired, panting, and surprised to find the gate still locked. "She's not here huh," I muttered, unlocking the gate and stepping inside.

I immediately proceeded to the kitchen and heated up some of the leftovers from breakfast, since I was the only one here tonight. In five minutes, I was wolfing down food as though I had never eaten before. The run from the bridge up to here sure took a lot out of me, and in ten more minutes, I was already washing the dishes.

I decided to head to the shed tonight to do some training, as was my nightly ritual. I smiled at the thought as I exited the dining hall and walked towards the backyard, gazing up at the sky with a fond look on my face. I remembered the times past when I told Dad how I'd be a superhero like him under a starry night such as this.

I did not expect what was coming.

One moment, I was walking towards the shed, the next moment, I was struck in the abdomen by a force so powerful that my neck snapped back as I retched, expunging the contents of my dinner into the air, falling onto my back onto the grass.

"G-Guh," I wheezed, trying my best to ignore the pain. Miraculously, I was able to will myself back up and I stood up unsteadily on my two feet. I looked around and saw the culprit.

Behind me was a girl who was roughly two years my junior dressed in the garb of a nun. In her right hand was a silver staff with six prongs at the end.

"Sorry, but I'm under orders to kill you," she said politely in _keigo_.

What. Kill me? What in the world...?

Without moving, she struck the wood with the bottom of her staff. I stumbled over onto my behind and I felt the _whoosh_ of the air strike the area where my center of mass was mere seconds ago.

"How are you doing that?" I screamed wildly as I made for the shed as fast as I could. I ran in a zigzag, so as to throw off the attacks that she was inexplicably throwing at me. The first blow _hurt_ like a bitch, and I was not prepared for the second blow that sent me careening into the doorframe right as I entered the shed where I did my training.

Stars exploded across my vision as my head throbbed. Before I could react, I felt the incoming attack but was far too dazed to avoid it. I heard the audible _ding_ of the staff striking the porch and the blow came hard against the small of my back, propelling me towards the back of the shed, where I crumpled against the wall.

I hovered at the brink of unconsciousness and when I finally opened my eyes, I saw her standing two meters away from me right at the doorframe.

"Well, it was enjoyable while it lasted. It's time you laid to rest, in the name of God," said the nun as she raised her staff over her head, prepared to drive it as hard as she could into the floor, surely crushing my skull or something along those lines.

My morbidity was unneeded, however, as a white light shone from the ground, and the nun instinctively leapt back away from the light.

A figure _emerged from the ground_ and the light finally subsided.

"So, are you my Master?"

And so, today in the life of Emiya Shirou had come full circle.

x~~*~~x

While Emiya Shirou was recuperating from the injuries dealt to him, Saber dashed out of the shed to engage her opponent in combat.

"Lemme guess, you're Lancer, aren't you?" Saber asked, eyeing her adversary across the Emiya backyard.

"I have no reason to hide that fact, Servant Saber," replied Lancer calmly, her right hand grasping her staff in a ready position.

"You're quite polite huh. Get away from my Master or else," huffed Saber, gripping her saber in both hands. '_I can crouch now and spawn a bunch of swords to throw at her but I can't try it until I've judged her speed..._'

"You may try all you like, but you shall fall here, Servant Saber," said Lancer, gripping her staff.

Lancer suddenly took a knife out of her robes and scraped the blade across the length of the staff.

"Urg!" exclaimed Saber as cuts appeared on her right arm. "What in the world is this?"

As Lancer moved to scrape the blade across the staff again, Saber jumped a meter backwards and, to her immense relief, didn't feel more cuts forming. Closing her eyes, she saw Lancer begin to dash around the backyard and instinctively, Saber began to run in random directions, trusting her instincts not to get hit by Lancer's attacks. By now, she had deduced somehow that whatever Lancer did to her staff, she could direct it to her as some kind of spatial attack that bypassed most armor.

"Good thing I can heal," muttered Saber grimly as she pressed the gem on her navel with her right hand. Saber glowed a weak turquoise and when the aura faded, all the cuts were gone.

Lancer was now indiscriminately striking the ground with her staff, trying to get compressed air that punched as strong as a stone golem to strike Saber. Saber barely avoided the attacks by using her instincts, and right as Lancer dashed to where she started, Saber jumped straight forwards with her saber ready to slash through Lancer, rending a deep wound through her stomach.

Alas, it was not to be.

Lancer blocked Saber's powerful slash with the length of her staff and all of a sudden, Saber felt as though she was hit by a moving truck in the abdomen. Doubling over, she somersaulted backwards to avoid another incoming flurry of attacks at the spot she had just vacated.

"Melee attacks are futile against me, Servant Saber," said Lancer with a smug look on her face. "If I block it, I can simply redirect the force of the attack towards you."

"Tch," growled Saber. "However, you little titch, that's not the only thing I can do."

Saber crouched on the ground, enveloping herself with her cape. Ignoring the pain in her abdomen, she stood up and when her cape unfurled, she was now surrounded by twenty sabers exactly like the ones in her hand.

As fast as a gatling gun, Saber threw the saber in her hand at Lancer, who darted to the right to avoid it. Smirking, Saber began throwing the swords at Lancer as fast as she could. Lancer avoided half the swords but she did not escape unscathed – three nicked her in various places of her body, two were blocked by the staff, with Saber wisely moving around to prevent Lancer to redirect the blows properly and one sword that would have impaled her was swatted away by Lancer striking the ground at her feet.

"It seems as though we are at a stalemate," said Lancer. "However, I have my instructions."

To Saber's surprise, Lancer began to chant. **"As above, so below, the fifth of the five elements, open the crosier that symbolizes peace and order, the first icon under the law of God's Child and the Cross, link foreign objects and people!"**

Out of the corner of Saber's eye, she saw Shirou staggering towards her from the shed. "No you idiot, get back! D'you wanna fucking die?" screamed Saber. Luckily, Shirou heeded her warning and continued to watch the battle unfolding from the relative safety of the shed.

**"Aether,"** intoned Lancer. A shimmering bubble of _something_ appeared in front of Lancer.

"You won't be able to try more tricks like that on me," snapped Saber, crouching and forming swords, throwing them at Lancer with the speed of a gatling gun.

Lancer dashed to the left and the swords harmlessly sailed past her, except one which hit the bubble of _something_ she had conjured with a loud _clang_, the dented and disfigured sword dropping to the ground.

Saber visibly paled as Lancer retreated back to her location behind the bubble. "I threw that sword at two hundred kilometers per hour and that bubble of _something_ stopped it dead in its tracks," Saber whispered.

**"Air,"** intoned Lancer once more and suddenly, the bubble seemed to expand in size. Her eyes widening in fear, Saber jumped backwards across the length of the yard and crouched low, searching her inner self.

"My powers aren't exactly the same as _her_... but I can surely twist them to manifest some similarity," whispered Saber to herself, her eyes closing as she saw a blonde girl with curls smiling at her, brandishing flintlock rifles as she fought eldritch horrors unbeknownst to man.

Fighting the urge to cry, Saber stood up tall and in her hands were a pair of sabers twice her height and each of them a meter wide.

"Try blocking these, Lancer," said Saber as she hurled the two huge swords that nearly encompassed half the entire width of the backyard towards the nun.

To her immense surprise, Lancer merely intoned, **"Water."**

Suddenly, the bubble of something filled with water and when the two swords struck the bubble, it exploded with a deafening _bang_, the water exiting the bubble with the strength of a raging river.

"Shit, I don't need this right now," snarled Saber as she dashed towards Lancer, seeing an opening as the latter was panting after expending that much prana.

"**Axel Shooter,**" rang a clear voice through the night as suddenly, a figure in a blue-and-white dress _flew_ over the walls of the Emiya residence, sending pink orbs of energy towards Lancer while a black-haired girl in red dashed through the open gate, aiming her right arm at Lancer as though she was firing with a gun.

Seeing that she was outnumbered, Lancer jumped as high as she could away from both Saber and Archer, and disappeared from view, presumably fading into spirit form as she leapt from roof to roof with the aid of her staff's control over air.

Archer, the new arrival, considered casting a Wide Area Search when her instincts prickled at the back of her mind.

"**Round Shield.**"

Saber's thrown swords all smashed into the pink shield and Archer was horrified to see the shield crack as her shield barely withstood the assault of the flying blades.

"Tohsaka!" came the shout of Emiya Shirou who started running towards Saber, who internally cringed at her Master's penchant for putting himself in danger.

x~~*~~x

When Illyasviel von Einzbern had seen Rin and Archer head towards Emiya Shirou's house she decided to change her plans.

"Let's go home, Assassin. Even Rin is strong enough to deal with the pest right now."

And just like that, Assassin changed tack and headed for Einzbern forest at the outskirts of Fuyuki.

x~~*~~x

"Archer, stand down," came the cool voice of Tohsaka Rin who beckoned Archer to settle down onto the earth beside her. "Ah, good evening Emiya-kun, I see that you've summoned Servant Saber."

"Don't hurt them," I wheezed. "Tohsaka is a classmate of mine. I didn't know you were a mage, Tohsaka."

"Neither did I know you were one, Emiya-kun," said Rin coolly. "And yet, you were able to summon the Servant I coveted the most. No offense to you, Archer."

The woman beside Rin smiled ruefully at her before directing her gaze at me and the girl who protected me. Apparently, she was some sort of Servant and her name was Saber.

"Tohsaka, what in the hell is all of this?" I said. "What have I been dragged into?"

Rin took on a lethal look and said in an icy voice, "You honestly have no idea what you're participating in, Emiya-kun?"

"Seriously, Tohsaka, I have absolutely no idea what's going on. That nun tried to kill me, and if it weren't for the sudden appearance of this girl here—"

"Servant Saber," interrupted Saber.

"...yes, okay, Saber. She saved my life," said Shirou who looked at the girl beside her in gratitude.

Rin sighed audibly. "Emiya-kun, can we enter your home and discuss this over a cup of tea? I'm afraid this won't be a simple matter to explain."

x~~*~~x

_Well, there's __**I**_**. **_Hope you guys liked it._

_By this point, the identities of Servants Saber and Lancer are kinda obvious. If you know their identities, please note I am taking lots of fictional liberties and I invoke creative license regarding their attacks. For Lancer, it's because of an... inadequate showing of her full range of attacks from her source material, and as for Saber, it's based on what everyone has seen so far, with a few liberties here and there._

_Read and review please! :)_


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